Decorative Dryer Vent

ABSTRACT

A decorative dryer vent is provided including a vent body defining a passage between an inlet end for communicating with a dryer vent pipe and an outlet end, the vent body including a decorative exterior in the form of a decorative overlay covering the vent body. The steam that exits through the dryer vent adds to the attraction, allure or amusement of the decorative dryer vent.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to vents for household clothes dryers and more particularly, to decorative dryer vents for enhancing the appearance of the dryer vent.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.

Clothes dryers are typically vented through an exterior wall of a home. The exterior opening is generally covered by a vent in the form of a hood or flaps that prevent water from entering through the opening. Typical dryer vents are made from aluminum or a plastic material such as vinyl. The dryer vents are sometimes painted or otherwise colored to match the color of the siding on the house. Otherwise, the options for decorative dryer vents are very limited.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

A decorative dryer vent is provided including a vent body defining a passage between an inlet end for communicating with a dryer vent pipe and an outlet end, the vent body including a decorative exterior in the form of a decorative overlay covering the vent body.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a clothes dryer vented through an exterior wall and having a decorative dryer vent according to the principles of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of an alternative decorative dryer vent according to the principles of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a front plan view of an alternative decorative dryer vent in the form of a lion;

FIG. 4 is a front plan view of an alternative decorative dryer vent in the form of a dragon;

FIG. 5 is a front plan view of an alternative decorative dryer vent in the form of a gargoyle;

FIG. 6 is a side plan view of an alternative decorative dryer vent in the form of an architectural feature such as a column;

FIG. 7 is a side plan view of an alternative decorative dryer vent in the form of a vase with flowers;

FIG. 8 is a front plan view of an alternative decorative dryer vent in the form of an ornamental arrangement with leaves, flowers and geometric shapes;

FIG. 9 is a front plan view of an alternative decorative dryer vent the form of an architectural feature such as a cupola;

FIG. 10 is a front plan view of a whimsical decorative dryer vent according to the principles of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 11 is a front plan view of a whimsical decorative dryer vent according to the principles of the present disclosure.

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.

When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,” “connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

With reference to FIG. 1, a clothes dryer 10 is shown in a home 12 with a vent pipe 14 connected to the dryer 10 and extending through an exterior wall 16. The vent pipe 14 is in communication with a decorative dryer vent 20 according to the principles of the present disclosure. The decorative dryer vent 20 includes a vent body 22 defining a passage between an inlet end 24 for communicating with the dryer vent pipe 14 and an outlet end 26 which is generally directed in a downward direction.

The decorative dryer vent 20 includes a decorative exterior that can be in the form of a face or head of a character 28. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the character face is in the form of a tiger or other large cat. The face 28 has an open mouth 30 that is aligned with the outlet end 26 of the vent body 22. As it is known that the air exiting through the vent pipe of a clothes dryer 10 is often in the form of a steam, the steam exiting through the decorative dryer vent 20 would have the appearance of exiting through the mouth 30 of the character's face 28, thus adding to the allure and intrigue of the decorative dryer vent 20. It should be understood that the face or head of a character can take on many forms including animals such as the tiger 28 shown in FIG. 1 and a lion 32 as shown in FIG. 3. In addition, the character face can be in the form of a mythical character such as a dragon 34, as shown in FIG. 4, or a gargoyle 36, as shown in FIG. 5. In each of these example embodiments, the outlet end 26 of the vent body 22 is aligned with the open mouth 30 of the character face. It should be understood that other characters such as humans, animals, reptiles, insects, fish birds, mythical characters, cartoon characters, and team mascots can be used as the decorative dryer vent.

The decorative dryer vent can be in the form of a face or an entire body or part of a body of a character. Alternatively, the outlet end 26 of the vent body 22 could be aligned with the snout of a horse or a bull, the beak of a bird or other parts of a character. Without intending to be limited by example, as shown in FIG. 10, a whimsical character in the form of a backside of a bunny rabbit 40 is shown wherein the outlet and 26 of the vent body 22 exits below the bunny's tale 42 such that steam exiting through the vent body 22 would give the amusing appearance that the bunny or other character is “letting off steam”, or in other words passing gas.

With reference to FIG. 2, the decorative dryer vent can be in the form of a face of a famous or historical person 44. Where the face does not lend itself to having an open mouth for alignment with the vent passage, the outlet end 26 of the vent body 22 can be directed out of the bottom of the decorative dryer vent so that the steam exiting through the bottom of the dryer vent adds to the allure of the character depicted by the decorative dryer vent.

It should be understood that the decorative dryer vent according to the principles the present disclosure can also be in the form of an architectural feature such as a column 50 as shown in FIG. 6. Without intending to be limited by specific examples, other known architectural features that could be utilized include cupolas 51 (as shown in FIG. 9), urns, corbels, vases and other known architectural structures. With reference to FIG. 6, the vent body 22 is within the base of the column 50 so that the outlet end 26 opens through the bottom so that the steam exiting through the bottom of the dryer vent adds to the attraction of the column 50 or other architectural feature.

By way of further example, with reference to FIG. 7, the decorative vent is in the form of a vase filled with flowers 52 with the outlet end 26 opening through the base of the vase 52. According to yet another example, with reference to FIG. 8, a decorative dryer vent 54 is shown that can incorporate leaves 56, flowers 58, scrolls 60 or other geometric shapes, letters, logos and FIG. 62 in an ornamental display with the outlet end 26 of the vent body 22 provided underneath the decorative dryer vent 54 wherein the steam exiting through the dryer vent adds to the attraction of the ornamental display.

Other whimsical examples of decorative dryer vents can include the form of a vehicle such as a rocket ship 70 (as shown in FIG. 11), automobile, plane, train, bus, truck or boat, examples of which are being omitted for brevity.

The decorative exterior of the above described decorative dryer vents can be formed as a decorative overlay that covers the vent body of existing dryer vents so as to be applied as a retrofit, or can be formed as part of an original dryer vent assembly. The decorative exterior can be formed from molded plastic, molded plaster, molded foam, stamped or otherwise formed sheet metal or other materials that can form an overlay on the vent body. The decorative overlay can be secured by a press fit, snap fit, adhesives, an over-molded relationship, fasteners or other known attachment techniques.

The decorative dryer vents according to the principles of the present disclosure can take on serious or whimsical forms for enhancing the attractiveness, allure or amusement of the dryer vent.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A decorative dryer vent, comprising: a vent body defining a passage between an inlet end for communicating with a dryer vent pipe and an outlet end, the vent body including a decorative exterior in the form of a character.
 2. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 1, wherein the character is an animal.
 3. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 1, wherein the character is a human.
 4. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 1, wherein the character is a mythical character.
 5. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 1, wherein the character is a mascot.
 6. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 1, wherein a mouth of the character is disposed at the outlet end of the vent body.
 7. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 1, wherein the decorative exterior is formed separately from the vent body and is connected to the vent body by one of a press fit, snap fit, adhesive, over-mold relationship or fastener.
 8. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 1, wherein the decorative exterior is formed from one of a plastic, plaster or foam.
 9. A decorative dryer vent, comprising: a vent body defining a passage between an inlet end for communicating with a dryer vent pipe and an outlet end, the vent body including a decorative exterior in the form of an architectural feature.
 10. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 9, wherein the decorative exterior is formed separately from the vent body and is connected to the vent body by one of a press fit, snap fit, adhesive, over-mold relationship or fastener.
 11. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 9, wherein the architectural feature includes one of a column, a cupola, an urn, a vase and a corbel.
 12. A decorative dryer vent, comprising: a vent body defining a passage between an inlet end for communicating with a dryer vent pipe and an outlet end, the vent body including a decorative exterior in the form of a decorative molded design supported by the vent body.
 13. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 12, wherein the decorative molded design includes a character.
 14. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 12, wherein the decorative molded design includes an architectural feature.
 15. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 12, wherein the decorative molded design includes at least one a molded flower, plant, leaf, fruit or vegetable.
 16. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 12, wherein the decorative molded design includes an ornamental geometric shape.
 17. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 12, wherein the decorative exterior is formed separately from the vent body and is connected to the vent body by one of a press fit, snap fit, adhesive, over-mold relationship or fastener.
 18. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 12, wherein the decorative exterior is formed from one of a plastic, plaster or foam.
 19. A decorative dryer vent, comprising: a vent body defining a passage between an inlet end for communicating with a dryer vent pipe and an outlet end, the vent body including a decorative exterior in the form of a decorative overlay covering the vent body.
 20. The decorative dryer vent according to claim 19, wherein the decorative overlay includes one of a character, architectural feature, ornamental geometric shape, logo, vehicle, flower, plant, leaf, fruit or vegetable. 